>> we'll keep talking about it this morning. of course, christine, you've been all over that this morning. i want to remind everybody to tune in this weekend. my new documentary "latino in america: courting their vote" sunday 8:00 pm eastern and airs again at 11:00 pm eastern. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. have a great weekend. hello, carol. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. breaking news on the economy. new jobless numbers are in. guess what? the unemployment rate is now below 8%. so let's had head straight back to new york. christine romans is there to break these numbers down for us. good morning, christine. >> good morning, carol. 7.8% is the unemployment rate now, fell from 8.1%. and 114,000 jobs were created in the month. carol, there's another number here, 86,000. that's how many jobs were add

in july and august that government auditor didn't notice in the beginning. they revised their numbers. actually, july, august were stronger than expected to the tune of 86,000. 7.8% unemployment rate. what does that mean? the best since january 2009. when we dig within these numbers, carol, we can also see that some 418,000 people entered the workforce in the month. they are feeling a little more confident about things. either that or they've been out of the workforce for so long they've got to try to get in and get a job. you've got more people coming into the workforce. overall, 114,000 jobs created. they were in health care, transportation and government jobs. government jobs, three months in a row now. we've been seeing government layoffs for many, many, many months in a row. government jobs, transportation warehousing and we've been seeing -- everything else is pretty much flat in terms of job categories. the headline, carol, 7.8% is the

unemployment rate. one more jobs report until the election. >> okay. so the political implications of this already coming in. in fact, we just got an e-mail from conservatives. this is what they're saying, christine. conservatives are challenging the legitimacy of the labor department number. can someone explain how the jobs added up right where economists were projecting and yet the rate fell to below 8%? also jack welch, the former ge guy. >> yep. >> he's tweeting this morning and saying, unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. can't debate, so change numbers. i mean -- so is it possible the labor department is lying or has changed these numbers in some way? >> look, these numbers are often revised. usually when you have a vibrant growing jobs market a revision of 86,000 doesn't make any difference at all. you have much more jobs being created. we don't have that right now. in terms of why the two numbers

are different, there are two different surveys the government does. hou household survey where they ask people wheer they're employed and a company survey where they ask companies how many people are employed. those are two different numbers. so that's why you have the number of jobs created or lost and the jobless rate. that's the technical data gathering reason. as for -- look, you'll hear conservatives say either they don't trust these numbers or they're going to say, look, 114,000 is the important number to look at here. that's not good enough. it is not good enough. you need 150,000 just to keep up with new people in the workforce. anybody crowing about 114,000 job sincere wrong. you'll have liberals and progressives saying 7.8%, thank goodness. people are entering the workrce, going in the right direction. there's something in here for both sides to take on politically. >> okay. we'll talk a lot more about this in the next two hours of "newsroom." as the day rolls on, president obama and mitt romney will likely spin those numbers,

romney likely to say that the president's plan is not working and the president likely to say my policies are working. it just takes time to heal this economy. underemployed and still struggling, under their mortgage. part of our middle class talk back. welcome, moira. >> good morning, carol. >> we make a big deal of these numbers every month. do you pay attention to them? >> yes and no. i'm actually tired of the pundits tell iing me what to thk and what's going on with the numbers. i just want the employers to start hiring. what i've heard out there is that there are jobs, but being a part of the underemployed or the ones that are really trying to find something a little bit more, the challenges, it's taking months and months of interviews and waiting. and i'm just so frustrated that it's -- >> so this 7.8% unemployment

rate, does that affect you at all? does that do something psychologically for you that says, oh, my goodness, the economy is getting better? >> no. no. it says that, you know, it's still challenging out there. there are hundreds of people applying for the same jobs. you're struggling to get in the door. the challenges that hr departments out there are being told we're not sure if we can hire that person. we're not sure if we can give that person benefits and maybe they should come in as a contract. and i feel like i want to say to employers, come on, you guys. just get in gear and be in action. don't wait for grease or for the election or for whatever to make a decision to hire people. just do it. >> moira, i know you're a democrat. you voted for presint obama last time around. these numbers, combined with president obama's debate performance -- have you changed your mind about the president, in support for the president?

>> i have not change d my mind. i do still support the president. he really had an off night the other night. and governor romney did a good job, for what he needed to do. but i also we the next day on to fact checker and looked at the reality of what they both said. and there was discrepancies on both sides. you know, more discrepancies on romney's side. so i don't trust governor romney. i trust the president a lot more than i trust governor romney. >> okay. we're going to talk a lot more about this in the story, moira, but i'll ask you right now, that 47% remark that mitt romney made with that secretly recorded videotape, he came out and said i didn't mean that at all. it was a mistake. never mind. don't pay attention to that. does that resonate for you? >> i'm so glad you asked that question, carol, because in the past 14 months my husband was unemployed. he just got a temp job tuesday. and we were dependent on that

unemployment so that we wouldn't lose our house. we don't have health care, so we had to go to social services. you know, there was a lot of things that we needed help on. so i was part of that 47%, but i'm telling you, i was not a victim. and i was ticked off at governor romney on that comment. >> and his latest comments don't make you any less ticked off? >> it's just so frustrating, you know. >> i know. >> i'm just -- yeah. >> moira binder, thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it, as always. >> thank you, carol. >> our political guy is in the house right now. are you going to talk about the reaction that conservatives are having to the latest job numbers, paul? >> i wish i could bring you new reaction but i don't have it yet. they're probably, as wepeak, trying to put together reaction to these numbers. it's been a criticism of the president because the unemployment rate was above 8%. you've heard mitt romney and

other republicans attack the president saying that rate was above 8%. it is no longer above 8%. i think that number is important. what you may hear republicans attack the president on these numbers, as christine romans was just telling you, not enough jobs. only 114,000 jobs created. more than analysts predicted but probably not the number needed to reverse course and really kick-start this economy. we will see probably in the next few minutes reaction from the romney campaign, other republicans and i'm sure you'll hear the candidate himself, the former governor, talk about it on the trail today, carol. >> we've heard a familiar criticism. conservatives are already reacting to the 7.8% unemployment rate saying, these numbers are wrong. they're just wrong. we don't believe them. how can they be? and this has been sort of a -- it's become a familiar tactic. >> are you talking about that tweet, i guess, from jack welch, talking about maybe the obama campaign was cooking the books. i don't know how those numbers work. i really can't comment on that.

there has beenriticism in the past of the polls and of this listen, when the things aren't going your way, numbers aren't going your way, be they poll numbers or jobs numbers, maybe -- you know, this is a reaction. i don't think you're going to hear that kind of talk from the romney campaign themselves, though, carol. >> you'll join us later to tell us. i'm sure there will be quick reaction that will come in a few minutes. paul steinhauser, thanks f. you're one of the americans out there still looking for a job, this is for you. we wanted to end this segment on a bright note. alison kosik is taking a look at who is hiring for the biggest shopping season of the year. good morning, alison. >> good morning, carol. many areas are actually hiring. look at the september jobs report. health care added 44,000 jobs. and that's not a huge surprise. that's an area that's considered recession proof. health care added actually more than 300,000 jobs over the past year. it's not just been hospitals. you look at ambulance services, too. not just there. transportation and warehousing, additional 17,000. even financial industry, which has been hit really hard added

another 13,000. now, another area that didn't make the top five list of sectors hiring in september but will in the coming months is retail. and that's because of the holidays. a bunch of these big box stores will be hiring by the thousands. that's what they've announced. they include target, macy's, kohl's, hiring for sales associates, distribution centers and stocking. many of them are hire iing more people than they did last holiday season. they're hoping, as consumer confidence picks up and gains momentum, the hope is so will spending. they're going to need people on the other side to actually take those sales in. carol? >> so what happens when the holidays are over? >> that is the big question, isn't it? some of them actually hire some of these part-time people full-time with target. target has a 30% retention rate, means it keeps 30% of the workers on after the holidays. not sure if these are full-time jobs or part-time jobs but jobs nonetheless.

toys "r" us keeps 14% of the job hires as permanent. you look at it this way. get into part time during the holidays. you've got to get in there. prove yourself. better shot of getting a job than maybe not trying. some sources are saying they actually started hiring back in the summertime to get ready for the holidays as well. target says it's going to be hiring through december, but others are going to finish earlier. go ahead and grab those resumes and get out there. carol? >> advice taken. alison kosik, live from the new york stock exchange. a bit more on those economic numbers. the psychological factor is important here, unemployment rate dropping below 8% to 7.8%. let's talk to steven moore, economics adviser for "the wall street journal." he he joins us now. go morning, steven. >> good morning. >> is this great news, good news, not so much news? what is this? >> probably doing a little jig over at the white house right now. there's certainly good news for the white house, coming off a bad debate. these are pretty good numbers.

the fact that for the first time in over 40 months we now have an unemployment rate less than 8%. one interesting thing about these numbers that people might be a little confused about, officially the economy gained about 115,000, 120,000 jobs, which is so-so. you look at this other survey that we do of households and that found a gigantic gain in jobs something like 750,000 or 800,000. as economists, we're trying to figure out why the big discrepancy in these two numbers. the reason we call it the headline number, the unemployment rate, that will be the headline tomorrow, unemployment less than 8%. >> i have to ask you this. jack welch, conservative guy, came out and said unbelievable jobs numbers. these chicago guys will do anything. is there any reason for any of us to believe that these numbers might be wrong or cooked or -- >> well, it's a good question. first of all, the most important number is going to be the one that comes out 30 days from now.

remember we have one more unemployment rate, unemployment picture that comes out the friday before the election. so that will obviously be the most important one in terms of the outcomes of who wins this election. but, yeah, this was generally a pretty good number. i want to go back to that point. we still have this wide diversion in these two reports in terms of where the employment picture is. one other statistic, if i may, that's not so rosie is when we look at the broad rate of unemployment, which includes people who can't find a full-time job and we include people who have dropped out of the labor force because they've just become discouraged, that number is still 14.7%. that's still a very high number and very economically troubling. >> we just heard from one of those people, moira binder, exactly the kind of person you're talking about. there are other bright notes in the economy. housing values are up. >> yeah. >> for example. you heard alison kosik just say that retailers plan to hire 6,000 people during the

holidays. these things are good, too, right? >> you hit the nail right on the head. with the housing issue. because when you think about it, what have we got right now? record low interest rates. you can now get a 30-year mortgage for less than 4%. you've got housing stock, you're finally starting to see new houses being constructed. so i think the housing picture is pretty positive right now. and, by the way, when people start to build houses and buy houses, that means more jobs for people in the construction industry, people in the real estate industry. given the fact that we've been on a five-year depression in housing, there's some real rays of hope here. >> stephen moore from "the wall street journal," thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> the romney campaign and the white house sure to speak up on these new jobs numbers. we'll take a look at how they might spin it this morning. [ scratching ]

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it is 17 minutes past the

hour. we'll continue coverage of our top story, the jobs report. first, a look at other news. an american opened fire in the red sea resort city of eilat. forces responded, killing the gunman. they say he had been laid off from the hotel staff. traveling to arizona today to express her condolences to the family of border patrol agent. nicholas ivie was shot to death responding to a border sensor that went off. two men found near the border have been arrested found with drugs and guns. pat summit says she felt forced out of tennessee after her diagnosis of early onset alzheimer's. summit's revelation came in an affidavit filed with a lawsuit by a former colleague against the university. back in april, she announced her retirement, saying she felt it was time to step down. the cdc says more people have been linked to fungal

meningitis infections. patients in 23 states could have been exposed to tainted medications. five people have died. 35 have gotten sick. now back to our top story, breaking news story. jobs report shows 114,000 new jobs added to the economy in september. the unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8%. presidential campaigns are expected to jump all over this. and there's only one more jobs report before that november election. brianna keilar, our white house correspondent, joins us now. have we heard from the obama camp yet? >> we haven't yesterday. we're expecting first to hear from the white house. that should be pretty soon. then we're expecting that the obama campaign will follow. that's just sort of the way they do things. it's interesting. we haven't heard a lot of official reaction also from congress. and that tends to happen when something is unexpected, if it's worse or if it's better than

projected by economists because a lot of offices, both democratic and republican have press releases already in the can. they're sort of rewriting them to adjust to whatever the reality is when the numbers come out at 8:30 on this friday. so this will be a positive for president obama in that these are the lowest numbers since president obama came into office. and also getting over kind of that mental hurdle of 8% unemployment. no president has won re-election with unemployment being at 8%. but as you mentioned, there is another jobs number and that's going to come out the friday right before election day. so we'll be keeping an eye on that. this is good for president obama. is it great? no. these numbers aren't booming. you look at july and august, they were revised upward. this is sort of a ray of hope the president can point to. when we do get reaction from the white house and the obama campaign, we'll expect for them to say, carol, what they say a lot of times, which is things are heading in the right direction. they're not heading there fast

enough. we'll be hearing some of that today. >> they're not going to spike the proverbial football, not just yet. brianna keilar, thank you very much. remember mitt romney's infamous 47% remark at a private meeting with fat cat donors? on the secretly recorded tape, romney pretty much wrote off nearly half of americans saying they're in the bag for obama because they rely on government handouts. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to -- you name t it's an entitlement. and government should give it to them. and they will vote for this president no matter what. >> as you well know, romney took a lot of attack for that blunt assessment and said yes, the words were inelegant but he said they were also true.

>> it's a message which i'm going to carry and continue to carry, which is, look, the president's approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes because, frankly, my discussion about lowering taxes isn't as attractive to them. therefore i'm not likely to draw them into my campaign. >> but last night, romney had a complete about face. now he is denouncing that remark all together. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds, if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessns, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that's just completely wrong. i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%. and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. and this whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president, it will be about helping the 100%. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser joins me now in

washington. romney chose to clarify his remark on fox. no accident there perhaps. >> he was doing an interview there last night with his running mate, paul ryan. i think what you heard last night was the answer mitt romney would have given in the presidential debate wednesday night if he had been asked by president obama or the moderator about it. they were prepared to talk about the 47% number controversy in the debate. the president never brought it up. it didn't come up in the debate. last night on fox he was asked by sean hannity, what would you have said, were you asked. that was the answer. it's not an about face, they say. actually his comments are pretty close to what they've been saying since the controversy first came about. you heard had him in those comments. you heard talk of him being president of all 100%. that's something he said for a few weeks. >> he never totally rejected what he said in that secretly recorded tape. his camp is now saying that his thoughts on the 47% remark are

consistent? >> they're saying it isn't very different from what he has been saying all along. the words you played sound to me to be a little different than what he said in the past. those comments are from september 17th in that impromptu news conference in california right after the controversy first broke. carol? >> in the light of the changing or not changing comments of the 47% remark, the president was on the campaign trail yesterday. he says romney is guilty of reinventing himself. listen to the president. >> when i got on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow, who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year, promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. and yet the fellow on the stage last night, who looked like mitt romney, said he did not know anything about that. >> so, of course, paul,

democrats are saying, who was that guy during the debate? that point aside, will this new message resonate? >> you saw a lot of energy for the president in both those rallies. this is the theme coming from the obama campaign and the candidate himself, that mitt romney is maybe twisting the facts, that he's a different man, changed man, maybe moving to the middle. we just got reaction to the romney campaign on the unemployment report. the first line from their statement, this is not what a real recovery looks like. stay tuned, carol. >> okay. i'm sure there will be more later. paul steinhauser in washington. after getting hit hard in the recession, we'll take you to indiiana, where one company is contributing to the comeback. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and...

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the u.s. economy added 114,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.8%. the manufacturing sector hit hard during the recession is contributing to that number. slowly making a comeback. manufacturing accounted for 16% of new u.s. jobs in the first seven months of the year.

nearly double the sector share of the total labor force, which is 9%. one company doing its part to create manufacturing jobs is wheilan designs, which makes furniture for health care and automotive industri. ted rowland joins us. >> this is in elkhart, indiana. unemployment was about 18.5%, it's come down to about 8%. the problem now is finding workers. here in wheelan, they've added workers. you're still looking for more folks to fill position. >> right. we're looking for probably about 15 to 20 people for direct labor positions and about four or five on the administrator side, which which are mostly product specialists, salespeople, engineers, things like that. >> it's been difficult to find people? >> all over this county, it has been difficult.

>> reporter: difficult. you would think, though, carol, they pay between $11 and $15 an hour, full benefits. 8% unemployment rate here. why aren't people beating the door down here? with the staffing company she has started called specialized staffing solutions. jacqueline, it's very interesting. one of the hurdles here, you have people on long-term unemployment that simply don't want to go back to work. >> yes. that's a hurdle. obviously, we have to celebrate some things here. employees that want to work and can work are working. that's the great news about our current unemployment rate. but the challenge is over the last couple of years, employees who haven't worked have developed a pattern and habit and it's going to take a little bit of time to get them back into the rhythm of going back to work. so there's a good percentage that that unemployment rate that we have that is due to the fact that employees, unfortunately, at this time don't feel that they need to go back to work. >> reporter: people, carol, are comfortable living in their

parents' basements apparently and there isn't that drive to come back to work. that's being felt here in this county and jacqueline says she's talking to people around the country where there are jobs that have come back quickly, this is starting to be a problem. it's fascinating. one wouldn't think that. it's happening here in indiana, where people just don't want to come back to work for available jobs. >> that flies in the face of like what you think about hard-working americans. who are among the hardest working people in the world. >> reporter: yes. jacqueline did say that the bulk of that 18% that were out of work, first 10% were eager and willing to take any job. the problem is that all of that workforce has been absorbed from the airline, rv industry and other industryies here in this county. it's a real problem just here finding those workers for these jobs that are open. it's not that everybody is lazy here. the ones that wanted to go back to work went back lickety split.

>> i'm watching the numbers on wall street here. started in negative territory. once the bell was wrung on wall street, take a look at that. for more on the job market, including numbers on the unemployment rate, head to cnnmoney.com. they do great work over there and will help you understand what's going on. running on empty. gas prices shoot up -- i mean shoot up. many stations shut down. what's behind this developing crisis and whether you will soon feel the pinch. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf.

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many americans will be well advised to buckle up for rough weeks ahead. national average for unleaded is just under $3.80 a gallon.

but in california that would be bargain basement. just under $4.49 a gallon. in many places the prices have crept above $5. that may not be the worst of it. the same refinery-related problems that are pushing prices up are also causing some stations to shut down completely. so let's take a closer look at what this means to california. and the rest of the country. cnn's paul vercammen joins us. >> reporter: this is one of the stations still open. this is rick laramor, putting the hose away. what's the verdict for you this morning? >> like i told you before, this is sticker shock for me. i'm kind of amazed. i went to three -- this is my third gas station this morning. i thought there was a mistake. and, you know, i'm -- yeah, i'm here.

i'm at $60 for three-quarters of a tank. i'm shocked. >> reporter: and you just entered a new job. you were unemployed or freelancing for a while. how long is your commute going to be? all the way to disneyland? >> that's correct. from here in burbank that's a little under an hour drive at this time of the morning so -- >> reporter: how do you make ends meet with this? >> can i get back to you on that? i don't know. this is going to be tough. this is going to be a tough one. >> reporter: good luck to you. have a safe drive. rick has quite a haul here. as you saw, he spent $60 alone this morning. a lot of factors here, carol. california hit by what some people are calling that perfect storm. we had refinery shutdowns, a pipeline issue, power outages. of course, california, a lot of people forget this, but california has extremely high gasoline tax. it's almost 70 cents a gallon. all of it at play right here. and a lot of it laser folk youed on california, carol. >> is it likely those problems will spread across the country or will this be limited to

california? >> reporter: no. they figure that this is pretty much limited to california based on, you know, what's happened here in this state. and as i said before, it's compounded because california has such a high gas tax as well. and that's why you're seeing these gas prices just sky rocket here. as i said at this station, which is opened, $4.61. up and down the street, as rick was pointing out, it's not uncommon to see $4.70 in this part of burbank for regular. >> i really felt for him. wow! thank you so much, paul vercammen reporting live for us from burbank, california. markets are reacting to the jobs numbers this morning. the dow up just about 62 points. more analysis on what those jobs numbers mean when we come back. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it!

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40 minutes past the hour. those new job numbers out today

seem pretty good for president obama. it's his opponents that are getting to the microphone first to cry foul. in a statement the mitt romney campaign said that this is, quote, not what a real recovery looks like. christine romans is in new york. christine, there are also a lot of conservative groups centered around e-mails like this one, americans for limited government. this is a conservative group who say these numbers are just plain wrong and maybe have even been tampered with. i'll read you a quote from the e-mail i just got. it says it appears that obama has hired baghdad bob to calculate the unemployment rate. anyone who take this is unemployment report serious is either naive or a paid obama campaign adviser. and, of course, they're looking at the 7.8% unemployment figure and saying that can't possibly be right. >> oh, let me explain how this works. we explain this every month, actually. there are two surveys. survey of households and a

survey of companies and sometimes they show slightly different results, right? they are surveying two completely different groups, one of people who are getting a job and one people who are giving a job and not necessarily the same people in those same surveys all the time. here is something i want to point out to these people who are talking about baghdad bob at the bureau of labor statistics. where were they the day after the president's speech in charlotte when all the enthusiasm after his dnc speech was taken away by a lackluster jobs support, where were they the past three years when we've been pointing out this is a subpar economy. i will tell you this, carol. never in 20 years of reporting on labor department reports seen someone actually say that -- let me read the last thing that is so kind of -- oh, that the people working at the bls are paid obama campaign advisers.

they haven't been acting that way over the past three years, that's for sure. these are economists who look at numbers, who look at them again, who revised them until you have a final reading. because the labor market has been in such distres really over the past four years, we've seen a lot of different revisions and weird movements because usually it's a dynamic and growing labor market that's pretty easy to read. it goeses up. when it goes down, you know exactly why. to throw politics in it is just silly. it's just silly, carol. >> it's disturbing because, you know, we can't be happy with any tiny little bright note in the economy. we all have to like wonder if it's true or -- and that doesn't help things either. for the economy to recover it's psycholo psychological in part, right? to run around saying the numbers are wrong, they're lying about the numbers. the economy is really, really, really bad, it's just like --i don't know. it doesn't help. >> it's frustrating. what's frustrating about it, there's so much data out there.

and we know that the labor market is not recovering the way it should and the way it has in the past. no one is disputing that. we know that 114,000 jobs is not enough to make everyone feel better about the labor market. we also know that people are starting to come into the labor market. 418,000 people entered the labor market and they're going to try. they're going to try to get a job again. unemployment rate fell to 7.8%. we know all this. it's just numbers. to fight about one little set of numbers in all of this, people are smart. people know you can take a look at all of it and that it still a complicated labor market. is it getting better and how quickly is it getting better? that's what we look at these numbers to tell us, not to fight about who to vote for. >> christine romans, thanks so much. chilly temperatures could affect more than just the weather. it could have a big impact on several crops. what areas of the country could feel the effects the most. ♪

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47 minutes past the hour. checking our top storyies, bettr than expected jobs report. lowest unemployment rate since president obama took office. 114,000 jobs were created in september. the jobless rate stands at 7.8%, .3 drop since august. romney/ryan campaign released this statement. quote, this is not what a real recovery looks like. we created fewer jobs in september than in august and fewer jobs in august than july and we've lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since president obama took office. end quote. we're still awaiting a response from the obama campaign. the calendar says fall. oh, but in colorado, scenes like this may have some people confused about which season they're in. meteorologist alexandra steele joins me now. i don't think anybody is ready for that yet. >> yeah, right? snowing in denver, colorado, today. two days ago it was 89 degrees.

this came down. badger, minnesota, 14," angus, 8". grand forks and especially through the dakotas, too, that's where the cold air is in place. the moisture was in place. we have a freeze threat already. you can see temperatures in the 20s and 30s for highs. and how about windchills, coldest air of the season, feeling like 13 am in minot, 19 in bismarck. very clear delineation. coldest air of the season coming down. there's the warm air today in the southeast. as we head toward tomorrow, cold air pushes southeast even further still. 82 in atlanta. that's saturday. by sunday into the 60s. that's it. d.c., saturday, 78. by the time they get to sunday only in the 50s. upper midwest, especially minnesota and north dakota, the cold and snow is impacting two crops specifically. soy beans and corn.

what we're seeing is this late harvest corn. of course, carol, this area has had such an incredible drought. worst drought we've seen in 50 years, adding fuel to the fire and making it even tougher for these late thanks so much. american airlines still making repairs to the loose seats. we'll tell you how soda and popcorn might be causing the seats to detach in flight. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites.

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if you're flying on american airlines today, you might want to check your departure time. dozens of american airline flights expected to be scrubbed as the troubled airline does more repairs on those loose seats. 50 flights were canceled yesterday. 44 are expected to be scrubbed today. the airline says the work will be done by saturday. and, of course, it is all because of the tiny locking bolt. there it is, that keeps the seats in place. cnn correspondent george howell is in atlanta. so, george, expect to us more about what exactly the problem is. >> well, carol, good morning. basically that is a lock and pin system designed to keep those seats to hold them down to the floor. now, we're hearing from american

airlines and i want to put all this in perspective, we heard several things about what could be the cause of this problem. american is saying basically putting the blame partly on passengers, saying that it came down to this, came down to coffee, came down to spilled sodas, that accumulated into gunk into these systems and that caused the locks to go into the unlock position. that's first thing they're saying. that raises several questions like, why is this not happening on other airlines? but just two days ago, we heard from american and they said there were clamps that were put on backwards, twisted. that's what we heard from them two days ago. and we heard from the union. the union pointing the finger at outsourced maintenance work as the cause for this problem. so, clearly, you know, a bad week, a rough week for american airlines that went into bankruptcy and nearly a year ago. but you see this airline now doubling down on its effort to make sure it does not happen again. they already had checked 48 of the 757 jets. they're doing it again. and causing delays, 50 delays

yesterday. 44 delays expected today. so that passengers like this woman who did not want to be identified, so they don't have to go through this again. take a listen. >> the seat flipped backwards. it was actually a complete nightmare. and so people were essentially on the laps of the passengers behind them. >> wow. so seriously, american airlines is now saying it is all because of spilled soda? >> partly to blame. that's what they say. and, again, carol, it raises the question why is it not happening on other airlines. but american says they're doing everything they can to make sure the planes are, you know, safe for people who are sitting, who expect to stay in row 12, so that they can keep the system going. >> george howell, many thanks. red sox nation suffered through a miserable season. now bobby valentine pays the price. we'll hear from the fired manager next. u know that the single cap of gain gives as much freshness as a whole bottle of that other stuff?

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going into week five in the nfl, there were three undefeated teams. now two are left. st. louis knocked arizona from the unbeaten last night. rams quarterback sam bradford completed seven passes, but two of them were for scores. in the meantime, the rams defense was putting pressure on the cardinals quarterback, kevin kolb, he was sacked nine times. rams win, 17-3. the troubled tenure of boston red sox manager bobby valentine is over. sox fired valentine. he was brought in to restore order to the clubhouse after last season's fried chicken and beer debacle. but didn't work out. beyond valentine, the red sox were plagued by injuries this year and wound up with their worst record since 1965. valentine went biking after learning his fate. >> the ownership of this team is terrific. let me tell you, john henry flew

up from florida to make sure he was here in person, you know, to be with me and us today. and, you know, tom and larry, no one cares more than them. and i think they're doing what they think is the right thing to do for the fans. because this wasn't acceptable. i get that. >> baseball's playoffs begin today with first ever wild card games. win or go home. in the national league, the braves host the cardinals, first pitch 5:07 p.m. eastern. the al game 8:37 p.m., orioles at rangers, both on tbs. orlando cruz has come out as first openly gay professional boxer. he's the fourth ranked featherweight in the world. he has two reasons for his announcement being true to himself, and being a better role model for young fans. and that's a look at sports this morning. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" begins right now.

happening now, california running out of gas, the highest prices in the country, nearly 6 bucks a gallon in some places. now some gas stations are completely shutting down. big numbers, big surprise in this morning's unemployment report. with just a month before the presidential election, is this a potential game changer. new revelations about pat summitt, the coaching legend may not have made the decision to retire herself, she may have been pushed. and good morning, thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello in washington this morning. we begin with a new measure of the economy. we learned the jobless rate is at its lowest level since president obama fist took office. the new rate, 7.8%, a bigger than expected drop from august. only 114,000 new jobs, though, were added last month.

those new jobs numbers seem pretty good for president obama, but his opponents are getting to the microphone first -- to first cry foul. in a statement, mitt romney's camp said, this is not what a real recovery looks like. we created fewer jobs in september than in august and fewer jobs in august than in july. christine romans joins jous now. christine, tell us what to believe because we're hearing so many different things from different camps. >> you can believe that the unemployment rate is 7.8%. and you can believe that on balance 114,000 jobs were created last month. and here's why. the labor department does two different surveys. one of businesses and one of households. let's start at the households survey. when they surveyed american households, they found in the month far more people said they were working than had said so

the previous month. a lot of that was part time work, some of that was starting their own businesses, the combination of those things and more people entering the workforce and finding jobs from companies helped to bring down the unemployment rate. now, there is another number, 114,000 jobs created, that's what wall street really watches, that's the metric that people trade on that is a survey of businesses who say whether they're hiring or firing in the month. on balance, 114,000 jobs created there. those are the two numbers. what i can tell you is that 7.8% unemployment rate is the lowest since the beginning of the president's tenure in the white house. 114,000 jobs created, not enough even to absorb new entrants into the workforce, not as strong as the last couple of months but better than expected, carol. >> thanks so much, christine romans. now to our chief business correspondent ali velshi for the bigger picture. ali, what is your takeaway. >> a couple of things. i've been saying for years, carol, you heard me say it,

ignore the unemployment rate. again, ignore the unemployment rate. i don't care -- i was saying it when it was above 8%, saying it at 7.8%, it is two different surveys taken. the number of jobs created is 114,000, on the left side. the right side is the unemployment rate. you find out about the unemployment rate by calling people at their home and finding out if they have got a job. it is less reliable than the other one which is actually jobs lost or gained. politically everybody has been running on the no president has been elected without an 8% unemployment rate or lower than 8%, it doesn't measure the right stuff. bottom line is, what are we creating enough jobs and are we creating them consistently? 114,000 as christine points out is not great. it is not a strong number. but when you combine that with the last two months where we saw an additional 86,000 jobs created, we're not in a terrible place with respect to jobs. the problem is if you're barack obama, you can't crow too much about 114,000 jobs. if you're mitt romney, you got to be careful about saying it is not working. >> okay. ali velshi, thank you for your

perspective. now to the white house and brianna keilar because the obama campaign responded to the latest jobs report. what is the president saying? i'm sorry. do we have a technical problem? okay. we do have a technical problem. so we're going to head on to other news and then go back to the white house and briana to get word from the white house. oh, we have brianna keilar now. >> reporter: sorry about that. we have reaction from the white house. this just came out from the chairman of the council on economic advisers saying there is more work that remains to be done. today's unemployment report provides further evidence that the u.s. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds infli inflicted by the worst downturn since the great depression and goes on to say, it is critical we continue the policies building an economy that works for the middle class and points out the severe recession began

in december of 2007. no coincidence there as he's pointing out it began before president obama took office. this is an important jobs report, carol, because this is the lowest unemployment rate since president obama took office. so he can now say, look, we got back to where we were, and also it clears that all important hurdle, maybe even a mental one, certainly as people look at statistics, of 8%. you don't have a president who has been re-elected with unemployment being greater than 8% since decades ago. so this is a key number. is it great? it is not great. is it good, yes. and it could have been a lot worse. so politically speaking this works in president obama's favor. >> all right, brianna keilar, live from the white house this morning. let's head to california where gas prices are nearing $6 a gallon in some areas and the state is now facing a shortage of gasoline. a costco station in los angeles area was completely out of gas.

the state average jumped yesterday and again this morning, now about $4.49 a gallon for regular. this is the most expensive state in america to buy gas. the reason, a closed refinery, pipeline problems, and strict state pollution laws. cnn's senior producer paul vercammen is in burbank, california, at a gas station where people are hurting. >> reporter: they are. in fact, they're absolutely stunned this morning when they see the price because if you look behind me, it is at $4.61 a gallon for regular. well, that is just a shock to the people here. they can't believe it jumped 19 cents overnight. now, this shell station, you can see, does have gas and it is getting more gas right now. you highlighted, carol, there were costco stations throughout the area that ran out of gas. and believe it or not, the $4.61, that's a bargain for this neighborhood. we saw a lot of signs that said about $4.77, $4.79.

it is costing people a lot of money to fuel up. many of them are coming into the gas station, maybe putting in $20, $40, for some big suvs. they're spending more than $100 just to fill up. and we saw one man earlier today, chatted with him, he drives into the station, looks at the price, just shakes his head and then he drives off. let's hear what he had to say. >> the regular guy on the street has got to be able to -- to go to work. if he can get a job, and what are you going to do about that? i'm not happy. but what am i going to do? you got to pay for the price, i guess. >> reporter: well, he decided not to pay the price here. now, something on the horizon that could help. it is usually in late october that they switch from that summer grade of gasoline, which is more expensive, more environmentally friendly, to the winter grade. they're trying to seek a waiver here in california to convert

earlier to the less expensive to produce winter grade. and that could help with this -- what many people are calling a debacle now in california. >> i sure hope it helps. just awful. paul vercammen live from burbank, california. no one questioned why pat summitt retired from a legendary college basketball coaching career. she coached one final season after being diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's. in april, she announced her retirement. >> i just felt like it was time for me to step down. it is never a good time, but you have to find the time that you think is the right time. >> but now we're learning it might not have been her choice to step down. carlos diaz is here to tell us more. good morning. >> good morning. what is going on basically here is that pat summitt has -- is now filed an affidavit, according to a lawsuit that she did not file.

let me be clear about that. this is a lawsuit filed by the lady vols media director debbie jennings. she is basically suing the university for age discrimination and sex discrimination, but basically in this lawsuit, pat summitt, the winningest head coach in the history of college basketball, is now saying that she had a meeting with athletic director david hart in march where david hart basically said she needed to leave the program. now, in this affidavit, pat summitt says this was a very surprising thing, a very hurtful thing for me. it is a decision i wanted to make at the end of the season, after i consulted my doctors, my colleagues, my friends, my family, and she says she feels she was forced out of tennessee. now, hart later told pat summitt that she had misinterpreted his comments, but these comments now stand in this affidavit that pat summitt has filed. and once again, it is not pat summitt suing the university, it

is the former media director, debbie jennings who is doing this. t this is a huge story because of the fact that pat summitt is the most influential coach in the history of women's college basketball. so for her to be forced out in any way is very shocking. >> yeah, and it had been such a great warm wonderful story, everyone supporting her and she became even more heroic across the country than originally. just shocking to hear. carlos diaz, thanks so much. new this morning, remember mitt romney's infamous 47% remark in a private meeting with fat cat donors on secretly recorded tapes? romney pretty much wrote off half of americans saying they're for obama because they rely on government handouts. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon the government, who believe that

they are victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it and that's an entitlement and the government should give it to them and they will vote for the president no matter what. >> it is a message which i'm going to carry and continue to carry which is, look, the president's approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes because, frankly, my discussion about lowering taxes isn't as attractive to them and therefore i'm not likely to draw them into my campaign. >> but last night, a complete about face. now mr. romney is denouncing those remarks. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer questions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. and in this case i said something that is just completely wrong. and i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%.

and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. and this whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president, it will be about helping the 100%. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser is here. we also have seen romney embrace the same massachusetts health care reforms he's previously shunned and he's doing that before some conservative audiences. is he simply just trying to move to the middle with just 32 days before the election? >> yeah, and maybe people are saying the same thing about the debate performance from mitt romney the other night in denver, that his position seemed to be shifting a little bit. on this, on the specific comment you just played on the 47% controversy, i think what you heard last night in that interview with fox news is what mitt romney would have said in denver if the 47% controversy had come up in that first presidential debate. it didn't. it was not raised by president obama. it was not raised by the moderator jim lehrer and i think the romney campaign was surprised on that. mitt romney had an answer to go

and that's the one you heard last night. as for what you're talking about on whether mitt romney is shifting his policies, the obama campaign thinks he is. listen to the president yesterday on the campaign trail. >> when i got on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney. because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy and yet the fellow on the stage last night who looked like mitt romney said he did not know anything about that. >> you can hear a lot more from the obama campaign and the candidate himself on that. the romney campaign, carol, pushing back saying, no, when it comes to health care, taxes, this is the same mitt romney and he's being consistent. the fight will continue. >> yes, it will. paul steinhauser, many thanks. price tag for your child's college diploma isn't getting

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its 17 minutes past the hour. time to check our top stories.

an american has been shot dead by an israeli police anti-terror unit after he opened fire, killing an employee at a hotel in israel near the red sea. police say the suspect lost his job as chef at that hotel. just out this morning, a better than expected jobs report, the lowest unemployment rate since president obama took office. 114,000 jobs created in september. the jobless rate is at 7.8%, .3% drop since august. a snowy scene in denver, where winter seems to have come early this morning. just two days after temperatures reached into the 80s. and in north dakota, residents are bracing for bitterly cold temperatures with highs expected in the 30s across the state. and police are searching for this man, who presented to be a customer at an atlanta area pizza hut and jumped over the counter to rob employees. those workers fought back. one woman hitting the man with a broom, once they realized the suspect didn't have the gun.

it is the fall fight fest for latte lovers. starbucks stores across the country are running short on the syrup that gives its pumpkin spice latte that special fall flavor. a decaffeinated masses are not happy. a starbucks spokesperson told the wall street journal in a pumpkin emergency, stores can place an extra order. and you're going to need that morning coffee for the next story. want your kids to go to college? you better start saving now. the cost of tuition at private universities rising again, up almost 4% over last year. alison kosik has the numbers from the new york stock exchange. >> so, yes, tuition is higher but look on the bright side. it is not rising as fast as it was. tuition and fees at private colleges are up 3.9% this year. and here is the silver lining for you. that 3.9% increase is actually the smallest on record.

so says the national association of independent colleges and universities. also, private colleges are setting aside more money for student aid. that's good news. some schools are cutting tuition prices like cabrini college in pennsylvania, university of charleston in west virginia as well. now, the sad reality is it is still tough to pay for school. almost 20% of households now have student loans. that is a record high. the average loan is at $26,000. it could take years to pay off, especially if the graduate doesn't find work right away. we can all relate to that. carol? >> we can. sadly. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. just before the election, a new movie on the raid that killed osama bin laden and being distributed by a prominent backer of president obama's re-election campaign. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release.

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back on one of the big stories of the day. question for you this morning, what do you think romney meant about the 47%? no question about it, the presidential debate gave mitt romney a shot in the likability factor. more people now think he can relate to their needs and problems. in a post debate cnn orc poll, 46% thought romney more likable than before. to capitalize on that good news, romney wt on republican friendly fox news to clarify his 47% remark. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you say something that doesn't come out right. in this case, i said something that is just completely wrong. >> that's what romney said on fox last night. now, let's tiptoe down memory lane. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe

the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. >> it is not elegantly stated. let me put it that way. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. i'm sure i could state it more clearly in a more effective way. >> now, romney is saying never mind, and there say likely reason for that. in a recent pew research poll, 55% of those surveyed had a negative reaction to romney's 47% comment. so will romney's latest remark erase that 47% thing from voters minds? talk back question today. what do you think romney meant about the 47%? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. your comments later this hour. ht overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts,

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just in to the "cnn

newsroom," a high court judge in london ordered that radical cleric be extradited to the united states. he will face terrorism charges along with four other suspects. the process begins immediately and the judge ordered that the man cannot appeal. he's accused of helping to start a terrorist camp in oregon. the unemployment rate fell to 7.8%. the figures are roughly in line with what was expected. the jobs number for august was revised up to 142,000. an oil sheen about four miles long has appeared in the gulf of mexico near the site of the worst oil spill in u.s. history. the coast guard says the source of the oil was not immediately clear in september of 2010. officials declared a cement plug had permanently sealed the deep water horizon oil spill. and it posed no further threat.

president obama in virginia now making campaign stops there and in ohio, right now, getting ready for a rally in fairfax, virginia. later he'll head to cleveland, ohio, where he'll speak to the students at cleveland state university and in doubt talking about those new jobs numbers. and trying to rebound from his flat debate performance on wednesday night. this morning, we learn the jobless rate is at its lowest level since president obama first took office. the new rate 7.8%, that's a bigger than expected drop from 8.1% in august. 114,000 new jobs were added last month, those new jobs numbers out today seem to be pretty good news for president obama. but it is his opponents who greating to t in getting to the microphone first to call foul. joining me now, john breabander.

welcome to both of you. >> good morning, carol. >> nice to see you too. the jobs report was not great. only 114,000 jobs added to the economy. you had that psychological boost of the unemployment rate going down to 7.8%. is the obama camp doing the happy dance? >> well, they're not doing a happy dance, carol, because the president is always the first one to say that even though we are headed in the right direion, and these numbers continue to prove that, we're now at the 31 straight months of private sector job creation. he says there is a lot more to do. he knows there is a lot more people out there that want jobs, that need jobs, and it is always a reason he talked about for the policies he's putting in place. we're going in the right direction. it is working but we need more to do. it is important psychologically because it is now below 8% and he's also now at a net job creation number for his term. it has taken away two important talking points from the republicans in terms of the jobs numbers.

>> and i'll ask you this, some conservatives are coming out and saying that these jobs numbers are skewed. and something has been done to them and they're not accurate. >> well, one thing they are doing is they're taking out a sizable number of people who they say have given up looking for work. so we're not even going to count them. and so unfortunately what it is saying is that we're getting mediocre results and some sense we're showing we're getting mediocre results. this is the slowest recovery in our nation's history and i think people expect more than that. >> do you think people really pay close attention to the unemployment rate and the jobs numbers anyway, maria? >> well, probably not as much as we do here, carol, because we are the political and jobs numbers wonks that we are. but i do think that psychologically when you clear those hurdles, it is important. especially because republicans have used time and time again that they said two things, that it has been over 8% for the four

years that president obama has been president, and that no president has ever been re-elected with a -- with an 8% or above jobless rate. so i think that in that sense it is psychological because people hear it, it is below 8%, so they say we're going in the right direction, and now it is maybe time to jump into the job market and that was an important thing that we saw in the job numbers as well. more people are coming into the job market, that means more people are being -- becoming optimistic about where we're going. and another very important point for the obama administration. >> so, john, maria is right in part because it has taken away an important talking point from the romney campaign. he can no longer say the president promised to get the unemployment rate under 8%, now at 7.8%. we have one more jobs report to go so who knows. what can mitt romney do to -- for lack of a better term, spin the numbers. >> well, i think people see this and say is that really the best we can do.

i think everybody is happy when we see any movement. but, let's face it, unemployment is right under 8%. we aren't seeing -- i believe 500,000 jobs in this report were part time workers. people want jobs and they want even more than jobs they want careers and they want hope. right now they don't see that. they see a president is doing nothing about jobs going overseas, they see a president who adds a small business tax at the time they can least afford it, they see college graduates, half of them coming out and can't find the jobs they want based upon the degrees that they have. and so i think there is concerns when this president or this administration or their campaign thinks we should be hopeful because of these type of numbers. >> maria, i think john has a good point. i'm an unemployed person or underemployed person or my neighbor is unemployed, that 7.8% figure is going to mean nothing to me. >> well, of course, and, again, the president in the white house

will be first one to say we're not where we need to be. let's be very clear. they're not doing the happy dance, as you said, they're not having a victory lap here. but we are going in the right direction. and, again, psychologically we have already seen in polls that people are feeling a bit more optimistic about where we are, and the republicans really need to be careful here. they are seeming as if they are talking down the economy, they are looking as if they are rooting for bad news because they think that will help romney. and, frankly, all of these conservative groups that are saying that these job numbers coming out of the labor department have been hampered with, that, carol, is very dangerous ground for the republicans to go on. i think it smacks of desperation. >> okay, so, john, respond to that. to those conservatives who are saying these numbers are skewed, should they just tone it down? >> i don't think it is that. i agree with what maria said. she said after four years of obama, the white house is saying things aren't where they need to be. what happens after four years of a president, if things aren't

where they need to be, you fire that president. >> john -- >> except where we're not needing to be because of the republican policies that were there before he was there. >> we have to wrap it up. maria, john, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. she's done late night and now early mornings. ann romney's latest tv turn when we come back. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. just a second. just, just one second. ♪ get outta the car.

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made for tv movies might make you think of the after school specials but not when the network is national geographic and being released by a prominent obama backer days before the election. a.j. hammer joins me from new york. this is a movie about the death of osama bin laden. >> yeah. there are some people because of the timing, carol, that are thinking it is kind of like a long campaign ad or they're questioning what is really going on here.

the movie is called "s.e.a.l. team 6," the raid on osama bin laden. it is what they call the first fact-based film that has ever aired. what has everybody paying attention is that it is a movie distributed by the weinstein company, harvey weinstein, a well known obama fund-raiser and supporter in hollywood and it is only airing on tv on sunday november 4th, which, of course, is 48 hours before election day. now, a similar movie dramatizing the bin laden raid called "zero dark 30" has been in production for several months and that's been criticized in some circles as being propaganda for the obama administration. the filmmakers of that movie moved its release in theaters until after the election. but then, carol, this one seemingly just came out of nowhere and landed a tv slot and with the weinstein backing they had to figure that this was going to raise a lot of questions, which it has. >> absolute. let's talk about ann romney. she's going to be hosting "good morning america." good for her. >> she's got a little tv gig this coming week. she'll be co-hosting abc's "gma"

on october 10th, wednesday. she'll be appearing in the 8:00 a.m. hour. now, the show has had a series of guest hosts, everybody from oprah winfrey, stephen colbert, all while the great robin roberts has been on medical leave since late august. roberts is undergoing treatment for mds and battled breast cancer five years ago. mrs. romney is also a breast cancer survivor and has multiple sclerosis. romney expressed her support for robin's recovery for a tweet in august, tweeted keep on fighting, we all stand with you. which is certainly true. the show of support came after the two had first met back in july, carol. romney sat in for an interview with roberts. there is a bit of history between the morning show and the romney family, it will be interesting to see how she does as a "gma" co-host, for sure. >> i'm sure she'll do a terrific job. join a.j. on "showbiz tonightto

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it is just about 45 minutes past the hour. welcome back. the candidates back out in full force on the campaign trail. these are live pictures from virginia, where president obama is about to speak shortly. the former governor -- virginia governor, tim cain, had been speaking behind the podium there. when he is finished president obama will take to the podium. later the president heads to cleveland, ohio, where he'll speak to students at cleveland state university and talking about the new jobs numbers and trying to rebound from his flat debate performance on wednesday night. we'll bring you the president's remarks live. the presidential candidates are trying to appeal to as many latino voters as possible, especially in florida, a crucial swing state. how do they reach them? as ed lavandera reports it not as easy as speaking spanish.

>> reporter: roll out the mare archie band, a few dancers and sprinkle in politicians and you got yourself a little old political rally courting latino voters, right? well, that kind of image doesn't work like it used to. in fact, political strategists have a name for it, mariachi politics. >> you do a big event and have the hispanics behind you and the mariachis and the canasthas and it seems like they're reaching for something and trying to portray an image that is really not there. >> photo with the president on my last day. >> reporter: leonard rodriguez coordinated strategy for george w. bush's presidential campaign. we met in his san antonio home. >> how do candidates fall into this pitfall of appearing to pandering to a bloc. >> talking one way to a group of individuals and then going into the next event and talking predominantly to a group of hispanic individuals. it forces a candidate to look

out there, know he's not talking and delivering a message that has to bring the two groups of people together. >> reporter: television ads offer a snapshot to president obama and mitt romney's strategy in courting latino voters. the obama campaign is using latino celebrities, targeting education, immigration and the appointment of sonia sotomayor as the first hispanic justice on the supreme court. but the romney campaign is using family. mitt romney's son, craig, who speaks fluent spanish, talks about american values and bipartisanship. this is the chief marketing offer of cultural strategies, he's analyzed the marketing strategies and sees obama and romney targeting specific groups in the latino community. romney chasing the more conservative cuban-american vote, obama focusing on puerto

rican and mexican-american votes. but to get the votes, the message doesn't have to be delivered in spanish. >> we have to keep in mind that the latino community is not monolithic and there is latinos who are by lingual and prefer information in english so you have to reach latinos not only in language, but also in culture. >> reporter: recent poll shows president obama has aamong lati nationwide. the fight is on. ed lavandera, cnn, san antonio, texas. and you can see more when latino in america courting their vote airs on cnn this sunday night at 8:00 eastern. going now from key voters to key states in the presidential election. let's head to iowa where we find cnn's shannon travis. i wondered, are people reacting at all yet to the jobs numbers this morning? >> you can be sure, carol that

people in iowa, i mean, this is a battleground state, they're definitely reacting to the jobs numbers. i just spoke with a few people about eight or nine people just walking around downtown here in iowa. a number of people, a smattering of men and women, democrats and romney supporters as well, are reacting. some of the democrats i spoke with said that it is encouraging and giving credit to president obama. but one guy i spoke with, carol, said he hopes the romney campaign won't spin the numbers, his words, not mine. a romney supporter on the other hand who described himself as a moderate republican said the president does deserve some credit, but that she felt that the country needs to move in a different direction towards romney in electing romney in order for the jobs numbers to pick up the pace in terms of employers adding more jobs. it is something you hear, obviously these voters here in iowa are very savvy. you know, carol, they seed the candidates time and time and time again, starting last year. i lived here for a little while.

so they're definitely paying attention and reacting to the numbers. you probably know, carol, the jobless rate in iowa is 5.5%. it is much lower than the national average. carol? >> all right, shannon travis, you'll have more reporting from iowa later on today on cnn. thanks so much. as we have been telling you, president obama expected to take the podium soon in virginia. when he begins speaking, we'll take you back there live. all o. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. 100% new. 100% mmm... wow, that is mmm...

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going into week five, in the nfl, there were three undefeated teams. now, only two are left. st. louis knocked arizona from the unbeatens last night. the rams quarterback sam bradford completed only seven passes. that was one of the good ones. two of them were for scores. in the meantime, the rams defense is putting pressure on the cardinals quarterback kevin kolb, sacked nine times. rams win 17-3. college football last night, usc quarterback matt barkley connects with tight end campbell on the 23-yard touchdown. he makes a nifty one-handed grab in the end zone.

the trojans win 38-28. the troubled tenure of boston red sox manager bobby valentine is over. the sox fired valentine. he was brought in to restore order to the clubhouse after last season's fried chicken and beer debacle but it did not work out. they were plagued by injuries this year and wound up with their worst record since 1965. valentine went biking after learning his fate. >> the ownership of this team is terrific. let me tell you, john henry flew up from florida to make sure he was here in person, you know, to be with me and us today. and, you know, tom and larry, no one cares more than them. and i think they're doing what they think is the right thing to do for the fans. because this wasn't acceptable. and i get that. >> baseball's playoffs begin today with the first ever wild card game. win or go home. in the national league, the braves host the cardinals, first pitch, 5:07 p.m. eastern.

the al game begins at 8:37 p.m. eastern. the orioles at the rangers. both games on our sister network tbs. orlando cruz has come out as the first openly gay professional boxer. cruz is the fourth ranked featherweight in the world. he has two reasons for his announcement, one being true to himself, and, two, being a better role model for young fans. we end sports with a player who really made his mark this week. you know who that is. miguel cabrera, of course. he became baseball's first triple crown winner in 45 years. the detroit tigers third baseman finished the regular season with a .330 batting average. 44 homers and 149 runs batted in. he helped lead the tigers to the playoffs and a contender for the american league mvp. if he doesn't beat out mike trout, i don't know what i'm going to do. talk back question for you today what do you think mitt romney mend about the 47%. your response is next. capella university understands businesses are trying to come

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try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. a quick check back to fairfax county, virginia. we're awaiting president obama to begin speaking there. at any moment, he'll surely mention the jobs report number that came out this morning. again, when the president begins speaking, we'll take you to his remarks live for you. the question for you today what do you think mitt romney meant about the 47%. this from amy, good for him, standing up and admitting you were wrong takes a ton of character. kudos to him. this from lenny, he meant exactly what he said when he set it. this wasn't a gaffe. anyone whose mind is changed by his new explanation deserves to get what he'll bring. this from billy, really, he changed overnight? this guy changes his stand every day.

surely the american people can see through this wolf in sheep clothing trick. from deb, he meant what he said, which was -- which was when he thought no one would ever know what he said. that is true mitt romney, even if there is such a thing. from david, i think he meant exactly what he said and i could not agree more. please continue the conversation. facebook.com/carolcnn. some experts say you should let your car warm up before putting the pedal to the medal. chris powell from extreme makeover weight loss edition says the same thing is true for your body. >> it is good to warm up before you exercise for injury prevention alone. before we move into higher intensity exercise, we tend to be cold so we need to increase blood flow to the muscles and joints and ligaments. once we're there, we can explore higher intensity on the